“Reaper, remember what I said about you giving me orders?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, seems like you’ve already forgotten. I can help out your team as much as I want to, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” If they hadn’t been talking about such a serious matter, he would have grinned at her audacity. Instead, all he felt was a sense of fatigue. He’d fought so long and so hard to save his men’s lives, only to realize how wrong he’d been in the end. And now he had this petite, beautiful pixie arguing with him?
“I’ll hunt down every IV, every needle, every vile and destroy them all before I let you put yourself through that again.”
The stubborn woman could argue all she wanted but she wouldn’t win this time. Seeing her like he had in the lab . . . so broken . . . would haunt him for the rest of his short life. “I could not live with myself knowing you suffered, willingly or not. I love you. I intend for the rest of my life to see that you never suffer again.”
She tried to release his hand, but he didn’t let her. He’d much rather her be pissed off than in pain. There was nothing she could say or do that would change his mind.
“Reaper, if you don’t get your dose, does that mean you’ll die too?”
She held silent. Yes, he would, but his life was nothing compared to hers. At least he’d go to hell knowing he’d done one good thing in the end. Caroline would have the chance to be free, happy, and have a long, fulfilling life.
Besides, after the things he’d done there was no doubt in his mind that she would be better off without him.
“Don’t you understand that if you die, I don’t want to go on living? My father is dead, if I lose you too what’s the point?”
“The point is your life. That’s all that matters.” He said, gravel in his voice from the emotion choking off his airways.
“No. I refuse. If you go through with this, willingly killing your men and yourself when I’m able to help, I’ll take my own life. And since you’re dead, there won’t be anything you can do to stop me.”
